# Daryl Chapin

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{{Short description|American physicist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Daryl Muscott Chapin
| image = Daryl Chapin.jpg
| birth_date = {{birth date|1906|7|21|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [Ellensburg](/source/Ellensburg), [Washington](/source/Washington_(state)), US
| death_date = {{death date and age|1995|1|19|1906|7|21}}
| death_place = [Naples, Florida](/source/Naples%2C_Florida), US
| fields = [Physics](/source/Physics) 
| workplaces = {{ublist |[Bell Labs](/source/Bell_Labs)}}
| alma_mater = {{ublist |[Willamette University](/source/Willamette_University)|[University of Washington](/source/University_of_Washington)}}
| known_for = {{longitem|Co-inventing the [solar cell](/source/solar_cell)}}
}}
'''Daryl Muscott Chapin'''<ref>{{cite web|title=Obituaries from June 1995 Columns - Alumni|url=https://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/june95/obits0695.html|website=University of Washington|access-date=28 January 2018}}</ref> (21 July 1906 – 19 January 1995) was an American physicist, best known for co-inventing [solar cells](/source/solar_cells) in 1954 during his work at [Bell Labs](/source/Bell_Labs) alongside [Calvin S. Fuller](/source/Calvin_Souther_Fuller) and [Gerald Pearson](/source/Gerald_Pearson). For this, he was inducted into the [National Inventors Hall of Fame](/source/National_Inventors_Hall_of_Fame) in 2008.

==Biography==
Chapin was born in [Ellensburg](/source/Ellensburg), [Washington](/source/Washington_(state)) on 21 July 1906, although he spent his childhood in [Salem, Oregon](/source/Salem%2C_Oregon). There, he obtained his bachelor's degree from [Willamette University](/source/Willamette_University) and later on received his master's from the [University of Washington](/source/University_of_Washington). Before joining [AT&T](/source/AT%26T) in 1930, he lectured physics at [Oregon State College](/source/Oregon_State_College) for a year.<ref name="nyobi">{{cite web|last1=Martin|first1=Douglas|title=Daryl Chapin, 88, A Co-Developer Of Solar Energy Cell|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/22/obituaries/daryl-chapin-88-a-co-developer-of-solar-energy-cell.html|website=The New York Times|access-date=27 January 2018|date=1995}}</ref>

Prior to working on solar cells, he worked on magnetic materials. While working on power sources for remote telephone systems in humid areas such as the tropics, where [dry cell](/source/dry_cell) batteries are unreliable, he investigated solar power as an energy source after considering alternatives like [thermoelectric generator](/source/thermoelectric_generator)s and small [steam engine](/source/steam_engine)s. Initially he investigated [selenium](/source/selenium), getting efficiencies which were too low with a yield of about 4.9 watts per square meter.<ref name="aps"/><ref>{{cite web|title=The Invention Of The Solar Cell|url=https://www.popsci.com/article/science/invention-solar-cell#page-2|website=Popular Science|access-date=28 January 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Perlin|first1=John|title=Let It Shine: The 6,000-Year Story of Solar Energy|date=2013|publisher=New World Library|isbn=9781608681327|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NHY7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA478|language=en}}</ref>

At the same time, Pearson and Fuller were working on altering [semiconductor](/source/semiconductor) properties through introduction of impurities. They created a [p–n junction](/source/p%E2%80%93n_junction) by dipping a [gallium](/source/gallium)-doped [silicon](/source/silicon) piece in [lithium](/source/lithium) at around 500&nbsp;°C before exposing it to sunlight, hence discovering its ability to generate [photocurrent](/source/photocurrent)s. Pearson informed Chapin of this discovery, prompting him to switch materials and after a year the functional solar cell was demonstrated on 25 April 1954.<ref name="aps">{{cite web|title=This Month in Physics History - April 2009|url=https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200904/physicshistory.cfm|website=[American Physical Society](/source/American_Physical_Society)|access-date=27 January 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Palz|first1=Wolfgang|title=Power for the World: The Emergence of Electricity from the Sun|date=2010|publisher=Pan Stanford Publishing|isbn=9789814303385|page=497|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sEINA3tyLUAC&pg=PA497|language=en}}</ref> The solar cells delivered a power of about 60 watts per square meter, for an efficiency of 6 percent, and was patented as a "solar energy converting apparatus".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Chapin|first1=D. M.|last2=Fuller|first2=C. S.|last3=Pearson|first3=G. L.|title=A New Silicon p-n Junction Photocell for Converting Solar Radiation into Electrical Power|journal=Journal of Applied Physics|date=May 1954|volume=25|issue=5|pages=676–677|doi=10.1063/1.1721711|bibcode=1954JAP....25..676C}}</ref><ref>{{cite patent|country=US|number=2780765|status=patent|title=Solar energy converting apparatus|pubdate=1957-02-05|inventor=Chapin, D. M.; Fuller, C. S.; Pearson, G. L.|url=https://www.google.com/patents/US2780765}}</ref>

The initial discovery attracted major media attention, with the ''[New York Times](/source/New_York_Times)'' reporting the discovery on its first page as one which "may mark the beginning of a new era, leading eventually to the realization of one of mankind’s most cherished dreams–the harnessing of the almost limitless energy of the sun for the uses of civilization". It initially failed to gain major commercialization due to its still-prohibitive costs and found only niche use in small electronic devices such as the [transistor radio](/source/transistor_radio). However, [the Pentagon](/source/the_Pentagon) found use of the technology for their satellites and in 1958 launched the [Vanguard 1](/source/Vanguard_1), the first solar-powered satellite.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sariciftci|first1=Niyazi Serdar|title=Organic Photovoltaics Mechanisms, Materials, and Devices|date=2005|publisher=CRC Press|location=Hoboken|isbn=9781420026351|page=4}}</ref>

For the discovery, Chapin was awarded an honorary doctorate by his alma mater, Willamette, and the [John Scott Medal](/source/John_Scott_Medal) from [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia), both in 1956. By 1959, he had simplified the solar cell's experiment to the point where it was performed by high school students across the [United States](/source/United_States). In order to bring down the cost, he experimented with [polycrystalline silicon](/source/polycrystalline_silicon) but was unable to reproduce the efficiencies of the single crystals.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Perlin|first1=John|title=From Space to Earth: The Story of Solar Electricity|date=1999|publisher=Earthscan|isbn=9780937948149|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xHFK9cM77a8C&pg=PA166|pages=166–167|language=en}}</ref> He died in his home in [Naples, Florida](/source/Naples%2C_Florida) on 19 January 1995, at age 88. After his death, he was inducted into the [National Inventors Hall of Fame](/source/National_Inventors_Hall_of_Fame) in 2008 alongside his two co-workers.<ref name="nyobi"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Inductee Detail - Daryl Chapin|url=http://www.invent.org/honor/inductees/inductee-detail/?IID=375|website=National Inventors Hall of Fame|access-date=27 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128190502/http://www.invent.org/honor/inductees/inductee-detail/?IID=375|archive-date=28 January 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapin, Daryl}}
Category:1906 births
Category:1995 deaths
Category:20th-century American physicists
Category:People from Ellensburg, Washington
Category:Willamette University alumni
Category:University of Washington alumni
Category:20th-century American inventors
Category:Physicists from Washington (state)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Daryl Chapin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daryl_Chapin) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daryl_Chapin?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.